


Beginnings

by Liz_isa_fangirl



Category: Disney Cartoons (Classic), Disney Duck Universe, Disney Ducks (Comics), DuckTales (Cartoon 2017), The Three Caballeros (1944)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Duck family headcanons, Epic Friendship, Family Feels, Found Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Magic-User José Carioca, Magic-Users, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protectiveness, Universe Alteration
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-29
Updated: 2018-06-29
Packaged: 2019-05-28 14:13:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15050891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liz_isa_fangirl/pseuds/Liz_isa_fangirl
Summary: Donald Duck is eight years old when he decides he's had enough.





	1. Do Rio de Janeiro Com Amor - Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> my attempts at getting rid of writer's block.
> 
> First up: Donald Duck(ling) all by his lonesome, on his way to Rio de Janeiro.

Donald Duck is eight years old when he decides he's had enough.

Using the money his ever elusive Uncle Scrooge sends on birthdays (the  _only_  thing Scrooge McDuck bothers doing for his family — besides that one rare invite to the Mansion at winter break —) he buys a plane ticket to the most interesting place he can think of: Rio de Janeiro.  Donald arrives at the bus stop, worldly possessions tucked away in a duffel bag he found in Grandma Elvira's closet. He’s pretty sure it belonged to his father and the duckling doesn't really know what to do with this information. Donald grips it tighter anyways.

When he finally arrives at Mouseton Airport, he stops for a second, suddenly wary of his decision to run away, but it last only for a moment and then he's off, running towards the gate.

Running towards a new life.

At least that's what he hopes it is.

*

If this had been any other universe, Donald Duckling would have not made it very far because one: his cousin Gladstone would have caught him straight away and, in fear of Donald's impending doom and death, would have ratted him out immediately.

Or two: after only a few hours out, Donald would have returned to the farm by himself, realizing he wouldn't get very far with his current plan. He would tell his twin sister Della and his cousins Fethry and Gladstone that he was only back because he needed time to think up of a new plan. 

_You'll see; I'll be gone before you know what hits ya._

He never would end up leaving, not until high school, when Grandma Elvira ships the twins off to Uncle Scrooge. It would only be then that Donald would have remembered that childhood vow, but it would be too late for him to try again. 

A third peek into outcomes would have been Uncle Scrooge finally proving his net worth: spending as much as he possibly could tracking down his wayward nephew (his sister's only son). It wouldn't be easy - Donald would make sure of it - but eventually, Scrooge would find him.

Finally, it would have just been that Donald Duckling, age eight, would have turned right around, walking the seven miles back to the farm from the airport, simply because he missed home. Either ways, a happy family reunion would have taken place in each of these scenarios, one with messy tears and scoldings and hugs.

But this is not these instances; fate, luck, Donald Duck himself, did not intervene and so, the eight year old got on the bus and then he got on the plane that would eventually take him to Rio de Janeiro.

*

Thirteen hours and fifteen minutes.

Donald spends thirteen hours and fifteen minutes borrowed deep in his chair, duffel bag in his arms, because it's the only thing on the plane he can hold in a death grip without getting a dirty look. The old lady next to him - who in a moment of desperate panic as the plane took off, looked like Grandma Elvira (but acted nothing like her) - had shook off Donald's little hand, despite it's trembling. 

Donald's other seatmate had noticed his distress and tried his best to calm him, but it seemed after the first five minutes of conversation, his attempts at understanding the child had tapered off, and after twenty minutes, he had cut Donald off, his patience gone.

 _Look buddy, it was great talking to you and all but_ Ireally can't understand what you're saying.  _I hope you have a nice trip, wherever you do end up going._

Donald stays silent the rest of the trip, choosing to stare down at the brochure in his lap. He doesn't make an attempt at reading what it says; he's not able to, not with the mess on his face, the one currently streaming down his bill. His seat is just big enough to let him curl up on his side; he'd be an indistinguishable lump, if he stays still long enough. The duckling pulls a quilt (the family one) out of the duffel bag and does just that.

He's dead to the world in minutes.

*

Donald is awakened by two things: one, the plane jerking about and two, his need to use the bathroom - drinking all the orange juice in the fridge before he left had been liberating, but his bladder is about to explode - the plane's decision to do the macarena at the moment is not helping either.

He's pretty sure this the turbulence Della's always talking about, when throwing her little red plane up into the air every five seconds. He hopes there's no crashing involved; Della always did her best to catch the plane each time afterwards. Maybe the pilot is trying to do the same.

The announcement a minute later calms him immensely; he had slept through the worst of the turbulence, only waking up at the tail end of it.

Everything is fine.

Reassured, he gets up. The old lady is giving him another dirty look as he crosses her, but he ignores it. A flight attendant is watching him closely and Donald pretends not to be bothered by the extra attention. The walk down the aisle seems to take forever, but he finally reaches the back -

 - where the other flight attendants are staring at him.

He slams the door closed.

*

He's in the bathroom longer than he should be, but he can't help it; it reminds him of Uncle Ludwig's buggy: small, an ugly mint green, loud whenever used, and a _terrible hiding place_ _;_  Donald doesn't know how long he's been reminiscing ~~spacing out~~ , when he hears a hurried knock on the door, followed by several muttered curses.

Donald, feigning ignorance, washes his hands for the third time and only then does he step out. He shakes water at the person waiting next in line - to throw off his pursuers - and then he runs. He may or may not have also accidentally stepped on the man's foot for good measures. He turns around once as he makes his way to his seat (can't leave his back unprotected) and -

 - there's no one chasing after him.

*

Turns out the flight attendants had only been watching out for him because he's a child currently flying alone to another country. Donald decides not to tell them that he's going to be a child staying alone in another country.

*

After shaking off the attendant that was supposed to be watching him - all he had had to do was walk towards a group of parents with their kids and remain within walking distance of them - Donald goes straight to a currency exchange machine. Once most of his dollars are [cruzado novos](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_currency) (he keeps twenty-five american dollars, just in case), Donald buys himself two ham sandwiches - one of which he eats on his way out - eight candy bars, and three bottles of water. The ham sandwich is only a little terrible; the bread seems dry, but it's probably only because _nothing_  can beat Gladstone's sandwiches (lucky Gladstone, who _always_ manages to snag the best of the few ingredient needed), and because he doesn't have any orange juice.

Donald decides to save the candy bars for when he has absolutely nothing else.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I headcanon Donald to be maybe 35-36 ish years old in DT2017 (i know I know, maybe that's too old(?) but eh). He's eight years old during this little trip, so the year is 1989. I have no idea what the Galeão International Airport looked like in 1989 (I tried searching it up, but I couldn't really find any relevant information without falling down a rabbit hole) sooooo artistic licencing if anything is wrong..? ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> oh yeah, the airport Don's at is Galeão International Airport, In the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro.  
> Part 1 in the Run Away to Rio Verse
> 
> EDIT: can u people tell I had no idea how to end this chap. I have more ideas and this is definitely not just a one shot anymore (of course it isn't) so stay tuned!


	2. Do Rio de Janeiro Com Amor - Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You can't conquer reality by running away from it." - Og Mandino  
> Donald doesn't listen to advice, but can you blame him; he is only a kid. A continuation of Do Rio de Janeiro Com Amor Part 1. Part of the Run Away to Rio Verse.

7,000 miles from the city of Duckburg and the state of Calisota, it’s raining in Rio de Janeiro. Hard. 

Trying to take shelter from the relentless weather is a sole duckling currently huddled in a tree, duffel bag hanging from its branches, over sized hoodie doing a proper job of keeping him dry but terribly, horribly sweaty. He feels light headed. And homesick.

Donald hates it. He absolutely hates it.

 

His stomach is rumbling and the rations are almost gone. He should go back. He should take his stupid duffel bag and walk his dumb old self back to the airport and at least try and find a way to get a ticket back to Duckburg - the flight attendants or airport workers would surely take pity on him, in his current state. He wants to do that, he really does, but that'd be giving up.

That'd mean being proven wrong _again_. Donald doesn't want that.

Donald wants them to witness it, wants to show his family that _he's telling the truth:_ he wants Grandma to see that mama and pop's death hasn'tchanged him _that_ much. Donald wants to prove to Fethry and Gladstone that he can still be adventurous, that there _is_  a difference between ~~Della's~~ recklessness and actual bravery; just because he's been  ~~more~~ cautious  ~~since the accident~~ doesn't mean that he's a chicken. He's not a coward. _He's not_.

Most of all, Donald wants to get away from Della. Sure, she's his twin, but recently ~~since their parent's death~~ , she's been scaring him - the look in his sister's eyes, the way she's been acting - Donald can't exactly put his finger on it but it's unsettling. Della's always pushed her limits, but now it's almost as if she doesn't care what she's doing anymore; Donald can't keep track anymore of how many times he's had to physically hold Della back from doing something incredibly stupid, even for her reckless standards.

How many times he's reached for her, hoping and praying that'd she'd reach back. Della does - she always does - but Donald doesn't think he's going to be able to take it _(take anything),_ the day she let's herself get washed away.

The day he fails in catching her.

 So he doesn't wait; he runs. He runs as far away as he possibly can with the money he has - to the place mama and pop had pinned to the refrigerator.

_It's a nice place isn't it,[mo laochain](https://www.omniglot.com/language/endearment/gaelic.htm)? Imagine it, all four of us, on a family vacation on the Brazilian beaches; it can't beat Scotland's cliffside views, but it's a close second. One day Donald, one day. _

The day never came; only a few months later the accident happened and Hortense McDuck and Quackmore Duck were buried in the family plot and Della and Donald were sent to Grandma Elvira's farm. For once, Gladstone hadn't been insufferable: Donald had actually appreciated his presence; Della had gone quiet for a month, so his cousin had been the only reliable companion. Fethry had been too little.

But even talking to his closest relatives hadn't helped all that much; Donald can still see the car wreck when he closes his eyes.

So here he is, far away, trying to escape the familiarity so he can escape his bad dreams. So he can escape well meaning relatives. So he can escape his sister, who is slowly but surely self destructing.

He's made it this far. He's not turning back.

 

* * *

 

 JSWATSON-HOLMES HAS MADE A PETITION TO PROTECT THE DUCK CHILD. IF YOU WANT TO SIGN IT, HERE IT IS,,

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is shorter than I'd like it to be but ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> aw yes, good ol' duck family angst.   
> Whoops.
> 
> Also, Donald's been alone for three days. Somebody plz protect this duck child.


End file.
